Edwin d



Patented Oct. 20, 1896.

(No Model!) E. D. TUCKER. l LUBRICATING DEVICE. No. 569,847.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

EDWIN D. TUCKER, OE NEWv YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO ROBERT HOE, THEODOREIl. MEAD, AND CHARLES IV. CARPENTER, OF SAME PLACE.

LUBRICATING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,847, dated October20, 1896.

Application iiled June 17, 1896. Serial No. 595,87S. (No model.)

To @Z whom, it 11mg/ concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN D. TUCKER, a citizen of the United States.residing at New York, county of New York, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Lubricating Devices,fully described and represented in the following specification and theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to a device for lubricating journal-bearings.

It has long been customary in proving for the lubrication ofjournal-bearings 1o make use of capillary attraction to elevate oil froma reservoir beneath the journal; but great diiculty has been experiencedwith the devices heretofore used for so feeding the oil on account ofthe clogging of the `narrow spaces in which it is intended the oil shallrise, thus necessitating frequent renewing or .y cleaning of theelevating device or medium.

This difficulty is especially noticeable when wicks are used, it beingnecessary to frequently renew such wicks.

The present invention aims to produce a device for feeding oil or otherlubricating 4liquids or semiliquids to a journal by capillary attractionwhich will not become clogged and which will be cheap and highlyeiiicient. To these ends I employ as the medium on which the oil mayrise under the influence of capillary attraction a device consisting ofa plurality of spiral springs arranged successively one inside theother, which when placed with one end in the oil and the other bearingagainst the journal will act to feed the oil to the journal.

The accompanying drawings show the invention in the preferred form asapplied to a journal-box of a usual construction, in which- Figure l isa side view of such j ournal-box, partly broken away and showing thelubrieating device in section. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 of Fig. l.Fig. 3 is an end view taken from the right-hand side of Fig. 1, partlyin elevation and partly in section, on line 3 of Fig. l. Figs. Il and 5are detail views of modified forms of The lubricating device.

In the drawings` l0 represents a common form of journal-box, made up ofa body portion ll and a cap-piece l2, and having an oil-reservoir 13 inthe part ll beneath the bearing and communicating with thebearing-chamber by an opening 14, which reservoir may be filled throughchannels 15 at either end of the box having mouths 16, said channels l5being extended entirely around the bearing to serve to return the excessoil from each end of the bearing to the reservoir, all as usual.

For the purpose of raising the oil from the chamber 13 to the journal 20there is provided, in the preierred construction shown in the drawings,a device consisting of a plurality of spiral springs ct b c, arrangedsuc cessively one within the other, and this device is placed in theopening 14 with the lower ends of the spirals extending into thereservoir 13 and their upper ends bearing against the journal.

The device may be made up of any number of spirals, but three, as shownin the drawings, are found to give excellent results. The spirals shouldbe closely coiled or suliiciently compressed when in use so that thesuccessive coils of each spiral shall lie sufficiently close together toform capillary spaces between them.

To prevent the successive spirals from becoming sidewise displacedrelatively to each other, they are preferably formed of different pitchand of different size Wires, as shown in Figs. l and 2. The spirals arealso, preferably, of such pitch that the spaces between their coils isless than the diameterof the wire of the adjoining spiral or spirals, asshown. This feature alone may be depended upon to prevent the sidewisedisplacement of the spirals, and it is to be noted that it is sufficientfor this purpose if .each alternate spiral is formed so that the spacebetween its coils is less than the diameter of the wires of itsadjoining spirals, as, for example, wh en three spirals are employed itwill be suicient if either the intermediate spiral or the first andthird spirals are so formed. I have shown in Fig. 4L a construction inwhich the spirals are all of the same pitch and formed of the saine IOOsize wire, the spaces between the coils of each spiral being less thanthe diameter of the wires.

The sidewise displacement of the spirals may, however, be prevented inany other Suitable way, as, for example, by employing alternatelyright-hand and left-hand spirals, as shown in Fig. 5, where ci and c areright-hand spirals and b is a left-hand spiral.

The successive spirals are preferably of such relative sizes as to lieclosely one within the other, so as to form capillary spaces between thecoils of the successive spirals, and the spirals should be of suchlength that when in position they will be sufliciently compressed sothat their upper ends will be pressed against the journai.

Such a device is well adapted to feed the oil to the journal, the narrowpassages favorable to the capillary ascension of the oil being formedbetween the successive coils of each spiral and between the coils of theseveral successive concentric spirals. It is customary to allow journalsa slight endwise movement in their bearings, and the upper ends of thespirals of the lubricating device will be moved by such endwise movementof the journal and by the rotary movement of the journal, thus causing amore or less constant shifting of the several spirals, and the attritionbetween the successive coils of each spiral and between the coils of theseveral successive concentric spirals will prevent clogging, and thedevice will be kept clear and vfree to act, and being under compressionthe upper ends of the spirals will be held in close contact with thejournal without the use of other means for this purpose.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a lubricating device whichpossesses important advantages over the means heretofore used for thispurpose, and which is inexpensive and efficient to a high degree.

It will be understood that the Adevice may be used in connection withany suitable construction of bearings and any suitable reservoir or oilsupply and may be used for feeding oil or any other liquid or semiliquidlubricant which has the property of rising under the influence ofcapillary attraction, and that the term oil, as used in the claims, isintended to include any and all such lubricants, andl that the spiralsprings may be made `of any material and of any form that may be foundsuitable.

W'hat I claim isl. A lubricating device consisting of a plurality ofspiral springs having their successive coils lying so closely togetheras to form capillary spaces between them, and arranged successively onewithin the other, substantially as described.

2. A lubricating device consisting of a plurality of spiralspringshaving their successive coils lying so closely together as toform capillary spaces between them, and arranged successively one withinthe other, the successive spirals varying in pitch and being formed ofdifferent sized wires, substantially as described.

3. A lubricating device consisting of a plurality of spiral springshaving their successive coils lying so closely together as to formcapillary spaces between them, and arranged successively one within theother, the successive spirals varying in pitch, substantially asdescribed.

4. A lubricating device consisting of a plurality of spiral springshaving their successive coils lying so closely together as to formcapillary spaces between them, and arranged successively one within theother, the successive vspirals varying in pitch and the spaces betweenthe coils of one or more of the spirals being less than the diameter ofthe wire of the adjacent spirals, substantially as described.

5. A lubricating device consisting of a plurality of spiral springshaving their successive coils lying so closely together as to formcapillary spaces between them, and arranged successively one within theother, the spaces between the coils of one or more of the spirals beingless than the diam eter of the wire of the adjacent spirals,substantially as described.

6. A lubricating device consisting of a plurality ot' spiral springsarranged successively one within the other, the spaces between the coilsof one or more of the spirals being less than the diameter of the wireof the adjacent spirals, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a journal-bearing and an oil-reservoir beneaththe bearing, of a lubricating device consisting of a plurality of spiralsprings having their successive coils lying so closely together asv toform capillary spaces between them, and arranged successively one withinthe other, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a j ournal-bearin g and an oil-reservoir beneaththe bearing, of a lubricating device consisting of a plurality of spiralsprings having their successive coils lying so closely together as toformcapillary spaces between them, and arranged successively one withinthe other, the spaces between the coils of one or more of the spiralsbeing less'than the diameter of the wire'of the adjacent spirals,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

EDWIIN D. TUCKER.

Vitnesses F. W. H. CRANE, E. L. SPEIR.

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